Environmental protection regulations relating to disturbed earth and sediment carried by storm water runoff are stringent. Extensive use of stone riprap, fabric fences and sediment ponds have been used for this purpose. Also where ultimate filtration is needed to prevent sediment flow in critical areas such as around storm drains prior to road paving, bails of hay held in place by steel rods have been used successfully although these are very labor intensive to install and remove and are wasteful in that the hay bails can not be reused.
More specifically, during the construction of roads, parking lots and the like it is necessary to install the storm drains prior to final grading and paving at which point grates can be placed over the storm drain entrance and the water from the paved areas can flow thereinto. From the time that storm drains are initially constructed until the paving of adjacent areas can be weeks and even months. During this time mud, silt and other debris from the surrounding unpaved areas must be prevented from entering the storm drains or the same will become clogged and rendered useless.
To prevent the ingress of sediment and debris carrying storm runoff after the construction of the storm drain prior to paving of the area, bails of hay have been placed around the storm drains and held in place with steel rods driven into the ground to prevent the same from floating away. This method of protecting storm drains from ambient sediment and debris during storm runoffs is very labor intensive, the hay bails are subject to rapid deterioration, particularly when left for several months and must be discarded after use.